Genesis 42-45 - Reconciliation

We have a long story to cover today, so let’s just jump right in. We’re finishing off the story of Joseph this week. We’re going to hear about what happened after he became the second-in-command in Egypt as well as what happened to Joseph’s brothers. And just to see how much has changed since a few years ago, we’re going to hear the story from Joseph’s own mouth!

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Welcome my friends. Welcome, and may God bless you. I am Joseph, commander of Pharaoh’s resources and distributer of Egypt’s wealth. Sounds impressive, doesn’t it? Maybe, but I know that none of this is my doing. I would never have been here today if it had been up to me, but God had other plans. Good plans. I realize now they were good plans.

You might remember my brothers. Reuben and Simeon and Judah and the rest. They hated me when I was a child and sent me off packing to Egypt. I blamed them at the time. I was angry and hurt and couldn’t understand why God would allow such a thing to happen. Even after finding a happy home with Potiphar or working here, there were times I was angry.

But in time, God has brought me peace. I see now that God had a plan bigger than my pain or my problems. God sent me here to Egypt to prepare for one of the worst famines the world has ever seen! In His mercy, God chose to use me to save many lives. Not just Egyptian lives, but others as well.

I never imagined this would include my brothers. It seems the famine was just as bad back home as it was in Egypt. I had long since made peace with God, but I will admit that my anger threatened to come back when the ten of them walked into the markets requesting food. But they are my brothers, and despite everything that has happened, I still love them. So I immediately had them sent for.

I’ll never forget their faces as they walked into the palace. There was a mix of shock and reverence. They immediately bowed to me, and I couldn’t help but think of those dreams I had all those years ago. My brothers didn’t recognize me, but I knew them well. And I decided to test them. I wanted to see if they were sorry for how they had treated me, if they felt any remorse at all. I would still have given them food – God would not have liked it if I returned evil for evil – but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to reveal myself yet. How was I to know if they still hated me?

I called them spies and threatened them with prison, demanding that they tell me their story. They told me they were twelve brothers. One had stayed at home, while one brother was gone they said. They did not elaborate, but I could see hurt in their eyes. But I needed more proof.

So I made a plan. I locked them up for three days, after which I told them that if they wanted to assure me they were not spies (and come back to buy more food), they would have to return home and bring their youngest brother, Benjamin, back with them. And just to make sure they understood I was serious, I told them they would have to leave one of them behind in my prisons.

Wide-eyed, they all started talking amongst themselves. “God is surely punishing us because of our brother,” they said. “We saw how upset he was when he begged us to let him live. But we wouldn’t listen. That’s why all this trouble has come to us.” (Genesis 42:24, NIrV).

Then Reuben spoke up and said, “I told you! I told you we shouldn’t sin against Joseph, but you all just had to let your anger get the better of you!”

I left the room as they continued to mourn and argue. I started crying, possibly more than I’ve ever cried in my life. Yes, even more than when my brothers first got rid of me. They regretted what they had done. They realized what they had done was wrong and they lived with that pain constantly. I wanted to go out and reveal myself right then, but for some reason I knew I had to wait. I wanted to see if they were truly sorry.

They left Simeon with me and went home. But what they didn’t know was that I had put all of the money they paid for their food back in their bags. I’m sure they were afraid when they opened the sacks. They already thought I was angry, but now they were probably terrified they would be killed for stealing if they ever returned to Egypt.

My father was heartbroken when he learned that Simeon had been made a prisoner in Egypt. This made him even less willing to send Benjamin back to Egypt, and my brothers were too scared to return without him. But as days turned to weeks and their food supplies ran low, even my father realized they had no choice but to go back again. So, very unwillingly, he sent all of his sons off to Egypt.

When my brothers returned, they brought with them the money from their previous visit as well as money to pay for new grain. I told my guards not to give them trouble but to invite them back to my home. When I saw Benjamin, I hurried away and cried once again. This was Benjamin, my youngest brother! When I came back, I released Simeon. I asked them all about home and father. They spoke openly, glad that I was not angry.

But my scheme was not done yet. I knew my father would not have parted with Benjamin willingly, and I had to see if my other brothers had learned anything. So I filled their sacks with food once again. Then I put all the money from both trips in their bags. And I told my guards to place my silver cup in Benjamin’s bag. They knew nothing of this as I sent them away once again.

Shortly after, I told my guards to bring my brothers back and accuse them of stealing. My brothers were shocked. They knew they had done nothing wrong, so they told the guard that if any of them had the cup, they would all become Egyptian slaves.

The guard searched each bag one by one until he came to Benjamin’s bag. He found the cup there, of course. My brothers were terrified. They looked at Benjamin angrily, but the look on his face proved he had no idea how it got there.

I’m sure they felt awful as the guard brought them back to my palace. They had no idea how to explain what had happened. I put on a tough guy act and yelled at them for trying to trick me. That’s when Judah spoke up.

“We have nothing to say to you, sir,” Judah said. “We have no excuses and no way to prove we haven’t done anything wrong. God has shown we are guilty, and we will now be your slaves, as promised.”

“Come now,” Joseph replied, “You did as you said. You brought your brother to Egypt and proved yourself honest. I will only make a slave of the one who had the cup. The rest of you may return home in peace.”

Judah was silent for a moment. Tears filled his eyes. He approached me. The guards grew tense and lowered their spears, but I waved them off. “Please,” Judah said, falling to his knees before me. “I beg you sir, do not do this. I told you before of how much my father loves Benjamin and how difficult it would be to bring our youngest brother back, but you insisted. You said the only way we could receive food again and prove we weren’t spies was if we brought Benjamin back.

“It took us weeks to convince our father to let Benjamin come, and even then he almost refused. But the only reason our father allowed Benjamin to go was because I promised no harm would come to him. I promised. If we go back home without Benjamin… I’m not sure our dad will be able to take it.

“So please, let Benjamin go. Let me take his place. I will be your slave, I will do whatever you ask. But let the boy return with his brothers. I can’t bear to see my father suffer again.”

My face was blank. They truly were sorry. And Judah, the one who had come up with the idea to get rid of me… Judah was a changed man. God had shown him that his actions were wrong, and Judah would never do something so horrible again.

It was time. I turned to the main guard and spoke as calmly as I could, “Have everyone but these men leave me.” The guards looked confused, but they knew better than to disobey. As soon as the last soldier left the room, I burst into tears. I’m pretty sure even the people outside heard me.

“Brothers,” I said, “It is I, Joseph!”

They stood there with eyes wide, mouths open, tears coming to their eyes too. “Joseph?” Reuben finally said.

“Yes,” I said in-between sobs. “I am your brother. Don’t be upset. Don’t be afraid or angry. I don’t hold your deeds against you and you are long since forgiven. God sent me ahead of you to save many lives. What you meant for evil, God meant for good.”

My brothers were a little nervous at first, but slowly they came near and hugged me. They realized I meant what I said. I was no longer angry and had forgiven them. But still, they apologized. They said they were sorry they had ever done something so terrible to me. And honestly, it took them quite a while before they stopped being scared I would try to get back at them.

But that thought never even crossed my mind. I was reunited with my brothers, and I couldn’t have been happier. Well, that’s almost true. The happiest moment came a few weeks later. My brothers went home and told dad all about what had happened. And then they brought him to Egypt. There were a lot more tears when we first saw each other, but I didn’t care. I was reunited with my family!

I meant what I said too about God taking what was meant for evil and making it good. Because of Him, Egypt was saved. And in His timing, He changed all of our hearts and brought us back together. And for that, I will praise Him the rest of my days!

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There are many dark and difficult parts about Joseph’s story, but the ending is one of Scripture’s most triumphant moments. After all of the pain and misery Joseph had gone through, and all of the guilt his brothers must have felt, they were finally reunited. And I firmly believe the reason for this was not their own doing. Joseph and his brothers let God change each of their hearts, and because of that, they had their relationship with each other restored!

And that’s our lesson for this week: A changed heart leads to reconciliation. Reconciliation is one of those big Bible words that means restoring the relationship between two people. Because Joseph and his brothers had had their hearts changed by God, they were able and willing to forgive each other and work to fix that relationship.

But this isn’t the only place we see reconciliation in the Bible. Just like Judah offered to take Benjamin’s place, Jesus actually took our place when he died for us on the cross. But when we believed that Jesus died and came back to life, He changes our hearts so that we can be reconciled with God. He fixes the broken relationship we had with God so that we can love and serve Him properly again.

A changed heart leads to reconciliation. This is true not only of our relationships with others but also our relationships with God. So I hope you’ll think on this. Joseph’s story is a tough one, but it’s also a great one – one that shows us what it means to trust God to do what’s best and to bring about reconciliation in our lives!

~Brentagious